The Story Behind

The Sports Commentators

Discover the story behind our exclusive commentary sheets...

A short, sharp kick wasn't enough to stop the giggles from the two boys huddled under the commentary box desk on a windswept gantry at Welford Road. But it was enough to knock over the flask of coffee across the commentator's hand-written commentary notes that, in the absence of internet or infographics, were his only rugby reference points.

The commentator desperately grasped for the right words (as well as some paper towels) whilst regretting allowing his 10-year-old son to bring a friend into the commentary box to watch the game. That boy was me.

On all the wonderful weekends I spend watching my rugby heroes take to the field from commentary box floors up and down the country, I had never really looked twice at my Dad's reams of intricate, hand-written notes. They looked like very complicated homework, even if grudgingly admired the brightly-coloured penmanship

If you had told me then that these rain-spattered, coffee-stained and occasionally ink-smudged sheets would become unique piece of memorabilia sought after by rugby fans the world over, I would have laughed. But here we are.

Dad commentated on rugby for more than 40 years - from Five Nations to Six Nations, from five Lions Tours to Six World Cups, from Varsity matches to World Sevens, from Barbarians to club rugby and everything in between. But whilst it didn’t take that long for me to understand the craftsmanship that went into the notes he prepared, it was his diagnosis with dementia (which would so cruelly rob him of the ability to communicate, the one thing he had built his life around) that gave me the urge to do something with them. But what?

Whether it was local county game or World Cup knockout match, Dad used to burn the midnight preparing with the same care and precision to help him, like all the other sports broadcasters, to provide the soundtrack to so many Sunday afternoon whether it was Grandstand or Rugby Special. As result he has 1000s of sheets, dating back as far as 1969.

It was a casual conversation with old family friend, Max Tilney (we’d met sticking stamps on my dad’s rugby magazine run from our garden shed), who suggested that the idea of framing these sheets for family, friends. Word quickly spread.

When we began to approach the other great voices of rugby, and then other sports, we soon realised that not only do commentators create their own hand-written sheets, but that this rarely-seen craft is passed down from generation to generation of broadcasters. We haven’t stopped since.

The Sports Commentators was born allowing sports fans, for the first time, to purchase prints of the actual notes created and used by leading commentators during the greatest sporting occasions. These are not remakes, they are the real thing. Warts’n’all.

Our mission is also to raise money for some causes close to our heart. For every purchase we have pledged to give at least 20% of the profits to Alzheimer’s Society and the My Name’s Doddie Foundation. In addition, we are also working with and supporting some of the excellent foundations attached to leading clubs.

We have now researched and sourced more than 5,000 original commentary sheets across rugby, football, cricket, cycling, boxing and Formula 1 to create what we believe is an amazing platform and marketplace for sporting history. And there are a lot more to come.

Each colour-coded and stylised sheet has been lovingly hand-crafted by the great voices of sport - from Brian Moore, Barry Davies, John Taylor, Carlton Kirby and Nigel Starmer-Smith to, Andrew Cotter, John Murray, Miles Harrison, Nick Mullins Guy Mowbray, Peter Drury and David Croft. 

Not only do they contain all the facts, figures, anecdotes and soundbites used by each of the commentators, they also represent a moment in time that is much more emotive than the usual memorabilia and merchandise.

So we hope you find your perfect match. Just don’t be surprised to find a few coffee stains along the way. But only one was me.

Charlie Starmer-Smith